Daniil Medvedev understands very well that he has to beat Rafael Nadal to advance to the ATP Finals finals for the first time in his career.
Last season, the Russian national took a 5-1 lead over Nadal in the third set and held match point chances in the group stage but he couldn’t finish the match.
This time, the world number 4 beat left-hander Nadal and he fought for 2 hours 36 minutes to claim his first win against the world number 2.
READ ALSO : Dominic Thiem’s Secret Weapon, Shaming Djokovic In ATP Finals Semifinal
“To beat Rafa, you need everyone, a nice backhand and forehand that works well and Mentally you have to be strong, because he is on every point,” said Daniil Medvedev.
Beating the best tennis player is not as easy as turning your palm. Russian national and his opponent in this season’s ATP Finals final Dominic Thiem beat world number 1 Novak Djokovic and world number 2 Rafael Nadal this week. Only three players have done this before in the tournament and the last time this happened was 10 seasons ago.
This season, the top four tennis players have advanced to semifinals of ATP Finals for 1st time since 2004 season.
Djokovic and Nadal have won 37 Grand Slams in total, while between Thiem and Russian nationalities there is only 1 Grand Slam title, namely Thiem who this season won US Open.
So, when the Russian national beat Nadal, he certainly felt very happy.
When this season’s ATP Finals semifinalists were complete, all fans took to social media to share their opinions.
“Most of the comments I read were like, My mind says that Dominic and Daniil will be in the final but my heart supports Rafa and Novak,” said Medvedev with a smile.
“This time my mind won. It’s incredible that we were able to beat two of the best players in the history of this sport.”
“I think that is a positive thing for the tennis world. We began to make history. Dominic won his first Grand Slam title and he is currently playing brilliantly. The match against him won’t be easy. Hopefully I can play nicely like this. I’m sure I can get him in trouble.”
The two young players have known each other since the junior tournament, so there will be no secrets between the two players when they enter the main court of the O2 Arena, London.
They have trained together twice since arriving in London, where one of them will make history. Now they will prepare one more time to bring home one of the most prestigious titles in the world of tennis.
For the fifth time in a row, this season’s ATP Finals will see a player win it for the first time.
